
A Bradford eye specialist who led the largest-ever study of its kind into the effect of children’s sight problems on reading skills has scooped a top national award for her research work with the district’s youngsters.
Bradford Teaching Hospitals’ Head Orthoptist, Dr Alison Bruce, has been awarded the Council for Allied Health Professions Research (CAHPR) Public Health Research Award for her work exploring the effect of reduced vision on literacy.
Dr Bruce investigated the eyesight of 11,186 four and five-year-olds from across 123 schools.
They had their eyesight measured as part of the Bradford school vision screening programme and about 5,000 of them also had assessments of their early reading ability.
Research to compare and contrast the children’s eye test against their literacy levels during their reception year began in the city in November 2013 and also drew upon data from the Born in Bradford study.